The Importance of Approachability

There so many positive attributes a good restaurant manager can have; overall competence, good rapport with the staff, general ease with the guests and the list goes on and on. There are also many negative qualities an inept restaurant manager can have; poor people skills, lack of self-motivation, questionable organizational capabilities, etc.

So, this time we’re gonna focus on the WORST quality a restaurant manager can have, next time we’ll touch on what I think is the BEST quality. So what is the worst quality a restaurant manager can have? Lack of approachability.

15+ years ago I was bar managing in a shop that had the GM do the liquor ordering. I would just do inventory, he would decide what to order and call it in. The GM was a notorious pain in the ass, didn’t do well with the staff and was even worse with the clients. I was off for a few days when I got a call from one of the bartenders-

“Hey Dave, I just wanted to let you know we’re almost out of triple sec”.

“Thanks bud, ________(jackass GM) does the order, why don’t you let him know?

“I’m not saying anything! He’s gonna yell at me”.

The Romans had a phrase, “Legatus non violatur’, essentially meaning the messenger does not deserve to be killed. I like the Old West version posted above the entrance to a bar in Leadville, Colorado in the 1800’s-“Don’t shoot the piano player, he’s doing the best he can”. That’s what employees are doing when they bring things to your attention that may be negative. They’re doing the best they can. Believe me, it’s better than the alternatives! Finding out about a problem too late or not finding out at all.

Oh, I’ve seen it before! Managers in the midst of a horrible crisis. Fire! Flood! Famine! Pestilence! And what do they do? Stand there sticking their finger in a server’s face screaming, “This is your fault!” instead of handling the problem and moving on. What a crappy, childish way to deal with people. And it’s a lose/lose for an employee, they get yelled at for letting the manager know about something or they get yelled at for not. Most likely, next time something is going wrong that employee is more likely to be outside smoking a cig or getting high the next time the shit hits the fan.

I get it, staff can be needy at times and when you’re juggling ten things at once a server’s seemingly stupid question may catch you the wrong way, especially if it’s one you’ve answered one hundred times before. But guess what? That’s the our  job, and getting all poopy with people just because they are blowing up your paradigm doesn’t do anyone any good at all.